Digital Jumping of the Gun

You may need to get out your daily planner and once again change the date of the switchover to a digital TV signal. The other day, the Senate approved a four month delay for that process. As a result, many news outlets announced the change as if it was a done deal. Perhaps they forgot that the House of Representatives would also have to vote on the matter.

Turns out the House doesn't want the delay and the switch will go ahead as originally planned in February. Now we're getting a lot of news stories that basically say, "That thing we told you was going to happen isn't happening anymore." Perhaps the eager announcement of the date change (that wasn't to be) will serve as a civics lesson on the importance of clearly stating the status of a bill. Sound familiar? Just a few months ago, we saw a similar situation where a proposed economic stimulus package was voted down after many in the media treated it as if it was a sure thing that it would pass.